Chelsea Football club has settled an unfair dismissal claim brought against them by their former club doctor, Eva Carneiro.
The full details of the settlement have not been revealed, but it was reported that the doctor also reached a discrimination settlement against Chelsea’s former manager, Jose Mourinho. Earlier this week it was reported that Dr Carneiro had rejected a £1.2m settlement offer made by the club.
Dr Carneiro had claimed that Mourinho called her a ‘daughter of a whore’ in Portuguese, when she went onto the pitch to treat injured player Eden Hazard during the first game of the Premier League season last August.
Hazard came off the pitch, briefly leaving his side with only nine players. Mr Mourinho publicly criticised both Dr Carneiro and the first team physio Jon Fearn for being what he said was ‘impulsive and naïve’.
Dr Carneiro left the club in September after being demoted from her role as first-team doctor.
Chelsea has now apologised to the doctor and admitted she was correct to go onto the pitch to treat the injured player.
This has been an expensive mistake for Chelsea and Mourinho, with some reports suggesting it cost them £5m to settle the case.
Issues to be aware of when demoting an employee
- Demotion is the most common issue in constructive dismissal claims.
- The Acas Code of Practice states that the normal sanction in disciplinary cases is a written warning, a final written warning or dismissal.
- The employee’s actions must be serious enough to result in a demotion under the terms of its disciplinary procedure.
- If the employee’s employment contract does not include anything regarding demotion, then the employee has to give their written agreement to the employer stating that they accept the demotion.
- Any disciplinary including demotion, pay cut or loss of bonuses, is non-discriminatory.
- Employees should be given the opportunity to appeal against any formal disciplinary decision, including a right of appeal against action short of dismissal, including demotion.
